The McGill administration’s conduct doesn’t match its lofty words The strike by McGill University’s non-academic workers (members of the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association) has been the subject the news media attention lately . In both internal and public communications about the strike, the university’s senior administrators have been at pains to insist that they welcome an open debate. In a recent internal email, principal Heather Munroe-Blum said: “I urge all of us to move forward in our long-standing McGill tradition of respectful and civil discourse, where people are free to speak, to disagree and voice their views without harassment, intimidation and insult.” I would like to take up this invitation. The McGill administration’s tactic has rather been intimidating and harassing and breaks those basic rules of ethical conduct. The strike has been overwhelmingly peaceful, so the administration’s frequent public complaints about supposed harassment and violence create a false impression that the strikers are out of control. Vice-principal Di Grappa’s expression of surprise is disingenuous, at least, and a blatant admission of the administration’s failure to understand and address the root causes of MUN-ACA dissatisfaction. If the vice-principal wants to be less astonished, he might compare the low-end MUNACA annual salary of $29,594 that he quoted in this newspaper (Oct. 18) with the salaries paid to some of his senior administration colleagues, such as the former dean of medicine, who was paid approximately 17 times that amount. Meanwhile, as the administration seeks to silence the striking workers, it uses the bully pulpit of McGill’s internal communication system to present its one-sided view of events. At every opportunity, the administration trumpets McGill’s standing as a worldclass university – a university that, in the principal’s oft-used phrase, punches above its weight. Why then is it not attempting to pay its workers a world-class salary, The spin doctors in Mc-Gill’s administration have cast the workers as the villains and themselves as the pure defenders of all that is good about the university. This is the same administration that took a decade and two task forces to address inequities between salaries for non-tenured academic staff at McGill For many of us at McGill, the current administration has been considerably less than world-class in its performance. Its attempts to discredit striking workers are shameful. Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/McGill+administration+conduct+doesn+match+lofty+words/5606718/story.htm

Threats, injunctions and allegations fly. What’s next? Two members of McGill University’s student government face a disciplinary hearing related to a rally in favour of striking support staff. One of them says he wasn’t even there…. the pair is accused of contravening two sections of the university’s code of conduct, which state: “No student shall, by action, threat, or otherwise, knowingly obstruct University activities,” and, “No student shall, contrary to express instructions or with intent to damage, destroy or steal University property or without just cause knowingly enter or remain in any University building, facility, room, or office.” Both dispute the charges. http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/10/26/mcgill-strike-turns-nasty/

The McGill administrators in reality very likely run their hospitals and patients the same way.. very poorly and inadequate.

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McGill University Health Centre has made public information on medical accidents and incidents. MUHC “microsite” is mum on the types of accidents that have happened – whether they might be medication errors, accidental falls, hospital-acquired infections or surgical mistakes. What’s more, the MUHC is silent on the severity of accidents and whether some patients might have died as a result of a medical error. It notes that the number of reported accidents increased from 5,528 in 2008-09 to 5,658 in 2010-11. That works out to an average of 15 medical accidents a day.In 2004, a study published in the Canadian Medical Associal Journal estimated that between 9,000 and 24,000 patients die each year from “adverse events,” the term for a medical accident. http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/MUHC+posts+stats+medical+accidents/5661765/story.html

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Canada’s spy watchdog mired in controversyAn oncologist and hospital administrator federally appointed to head Canada’s Security and Intelligence Review Committee was reportedly involved in a business deal with a Montrealer allegedly connected to coup plots and arms deals in developing countries, the Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday. SIRC’s chairman Arthur Porter allegedly wired $200,000 to Montreal-based consultant Ari Ben-Menashe for him to secure millions of dollars in infrastructure investments in Porter’s native Sierra Leone. Though the deal is neither illegal not an obvious conflict of interest, it does reflect at least bad judgement by a federal appointee with access to highly classified information held by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In a further development bound to raise eyebrows in Ottawa, the National Post reported today that Dr. Porter offered Canadian Senator David Angus the position of honorary consul general to Sierra Leone in casual conversations. Angus is chairman of the McGill University Health Centre, a role that essentially puts him a notch above Porter, who is the organization’s chief executive. http://www2.macleans.ca/category/need-to-know/?current=224541

The decision to hold the meeting comes amid concerns about the financial health of the MUHC as well as revelations reported in The Gazette this week about Porter’s increasing absences from the 12-000 employee organization. On Thursday, Porter resigned as head of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) after two reports in the National Post disclosed his business relations with an international lobbyist based in Montreal for an infrastructure agreement in his native Sierra Leone that ultimately fell through‎

Spy watchdog’s business dealings raise eyebrows Globe and Mail A doctor appointed by the Conservatives to scrutinize Canada’s spy service admits he didn’t do his homework before entering into a business arrangement with a Montrealer infamous for alleged roles in coup plots and arms deals. Opposition politicians say the arrangement raises questions about judgment. “This is casting a shadow on the agency,” said NDP public safety critic Jasbir Sandhu. He said it falls upon Prime Minister Stephen Harper to order an investigation into the SIRC chair’s business dealings.

The wife of Arthur Porter, the accused fraudster and former head of the federal spy watchdog, has admitted to laundering millions of dollars stolen from the public purse. Yet Dr. Arthur Porter, and Dr. P. Couillard, still insist the whole event is a lie, perverse fabrication, they are not guilty of any wrong doing…

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Hundreds rally at Montreal’s McGill University to decry use of riot police Montreal Gazette -MONTREAL — Shame on McGill University. That was the message as hundreds of students and staff gathered outside the James Administration building at McGill University in downtown Montreal on Monday afternoon to denounce the administration’s perceived heavy-handedness during a standoff on campus last week. Last Thursday, riot police were called after a group of students ended a provincial demonstration against tuition-fee hikes by occupying McGill’s administration building. Students and staff described an ugly scene, charging that violence and pepper spray were unnecessarily used on students during the confrontation. “There’s never been anything like this here in recent memory,” said doctoral student and course lecturer Lilian Radovac. “There have been a number of moves to limit people’s freedom of expression and it just reached a boiling point.”